Sunday, 7 October 2012

Autumn Broth

As the weather turns, I get a hankering for soup. I love making soup, the delicate warmth and simplicity of an autumn broth makes my heart sing. A splendid way to warm the cockles on a blustery day.

My favourite is chicken broth, I prepare my chicken stock over two days, simmering the carcass of a leftover roast chicken and chicken thighs, with nothing more than a whole bulb of garlic, celeriac and an onion. The longer you simmer it, the deeper the colour and the richer the taste.

I then strain it all in a collander, return the stock to the heat, chop some celery and onion, add more garlic (we love garlic) and continue to heat gently, whilst I pick all the chicken from the collander, it falls off the bones, and melts into the broth.

A sprinkling of chopped parsley, a splash of cream, and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and I am all aglow with the wonder of it all.
The children, thankfully, are as enamoured with broth as I am, sometimes we add pearl barley, or lentils, or yellow split peas. However it is made, it is always served with hunks of wholewheat bread, fresh from the oven, and made by my very own Amber's hands (for she is the chief maker of bread in this house).

There is lots of knitting and stitching going on over here, I will be posting more of that soon, in the meantime, I am supping on my Autumn Broth, picking apples, planting Bluebell bulbs, making jam, and enjoying the low autumn sun, whilst it lasts.

16 comments:

Yummy! Nothing beats a good old heart-warming scrummy broth! I've got out of the habit recently, I'll have to remember the next time I roast a bird... We've been getting back into open fires over here - always thrilling before they become a necessity! pretty darn pleased by the way with the thread fairy's recent visit... thanken 'ee kindly, my lovely xx will be posting on that soon as kids allow x

that would warm yer cockles indeed! sounds lovely! One of my favourite things about Autumn and Winter is the food..I love making stews and just leaving them to cook all day in the Rayburn...goodness...I've made myself hungry now! Better go and have a munch! x

Nothing beats home made soup and bread don't you think? I am always amazed that my children love pearl barley - they think it is a special treat! It's all in the marketing I think!A hearty best wishesJenny

Hi there, thanks for your kind words at my blog - nice to have found yours! Your soup looks amazing, really warming and delicious, thanks for sharing your recipe. I see you have the new edition of The Simple Things there...I haven't got my sticky hands on a copy yet! Gillian x

Im jealous now, which idiot thought it would be a simple thing to pull out our old kitchen and fit a new one--that would be me, no running water, or cooker IM SICK OF MACCY DS and my threads are getting dusty...boohoo